The corona crisis has not yet been overcome, the economic upswing is delayed - nevertheless, companies in Germany are again struggling with an enormous shortage of skilled workers.
This is currently even slightly larger than before the outbreak of the pandemic, as shown in a survey published on Monday by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), for which around 23,000 companies were asked.
You also refer to the shortage of skilled workers as the greatest business risk.
More than half of the companies - 51 percent to be precise - cannot fill current vacancies, at least temporarily, because they cannot find suitable workers.
In autumn 2020 only a third of the companies reported a shortage of skilled workers, in autumn 2019 it was 47 percent.
There are particularly great difficulties in construction, among capital goods manufacturers such as mechanical engineering and among health and social service providers such as hospitals, nursing homes and daycare centers.
90 billion euros less added value
"The shortage of skilled workers in the companies is back: faster and to a greater extent than many expected," said the deputy DIHK managing director Achim Dercks. In addition to the scarcity of raw materials and preliminary products, this is an additional challenge for the implementation of key future social tasks such as digitization, combating climate change or e-mobility. “When in doubt, not only is there a lack of money, but also people,” said Dercks.
In fact, according to the survey, 43 percent of companies assume that they will have to refuse orders or reduce their supply because of the shortage of skilled workers. This not only affects single-family homes, but also the expansion of renewable energies and digital infrastructure, said Dercks. If, for example, there is a lack of skilled workers to lay fiber optic cables, the urgently needed expansion of the broadband infrastructure slows down. Companies also fear an additional burden for their workforce and rising labor costs, which could further fuel rising inflation.
According to the DIHK, the shortage of skilled workers is already proving to be a brake on growth.
The number of vacancies currently vacant is likely to be 1.7 to 1.8 million, according to Dercks.
"That slows the added value roughly by around 90 billion euros - that is, around 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product." The shortage will worsen in the future.
This year, 350,000 more people retired than came from school, and the difference will become even greater in the coming years.